Just across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place, the Biden campaign held a press conference featuring Hollywood legend Robert De Niro.
“I grew up here and feel at home in the streets … I love the city,” De Niro said. Reflecting on the tragic events of September 11, he solemnly noted, “The Twin Towers fell just over there,” expressing his profound connection to downtown New York City.
De Niro didn’t hold back when discussing Trump, accusing him of seeking “to sow total chaos” and calling him a “tyrant.”
“Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city but the country, and eventually he could destroy the world,” De Niro asserted. He emphasized that Trump “does not belong in my city. I don’t know where he belongs, but he certainly doesn’t belong here,” dismissing him as a “grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot.”
The Taxi Driver star claimed that the former president would “use violence against anyone who stands in the way of his megalomania and greed,” and that’s why he joined the Biden campaign: “because the only way to preserve our freedoms and hold on to our humanity is to vote for Joe Biden for president.”
“Yesterday was Memorial Day. It’s a good time to reflect on how Americans fought and died so that we may enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to us by a democratic government … Under Trump, this kind of government will perish from the earth,” De Niro said. He warned, “If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye.”
“We don’t want to wake up after the election saying ‘What again? My God, what the hell have we done?’” he quipped. “If Trump gets into the White House, he will never leave.”
The 80-year-old actor questioned, “Is that the country we want to live in? Do we want him running this country and saying ‘I’m not leaving, I’m dictator for life’?”
“This is not a threat. This is a reality,” De Niro emphasized.
His words were bolstered by the presence of law enforcement officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, who bravely defended the US Capitol on January 6th. De Niro praised them as “true heroes” and expressed gratitude, saying, “They stood and put their lives on the line to defend this country and our democracy.”
